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Powerline Ethernet

Good Morning Squeezeboxers,
I have two Squeezebox Classics that have been operating flawless for several years. Lately there has been a lot of congestion on the wireless channels around here. Since 5GHz is not an option for the Squeezebox I'm wondering what the verdict is here on Powerline Ethernet as an alternative to the wireless.

I have used ZyXel powerline ethernet products for various Squeezeboxen over the years. I also used it for my Boxee box for while before I eventually ended up running some Cat5 to the room it was in. It has proven to be very good. The only issue I have had would be dropouts when certain devices were used in the house. Primarily hair dryers and a large attic fan. Other than that, very reliable.

I was in the same position as you are. We updated our IP which necessitated changing the location of our wireless router. All seemed fine until the microwave turned on.... the only thing that didn't lose signal was my iPod Touch. Two days ago I bought 3 PowerLine adaptors (D-Link DHP-500AV). Not only did it cure the microwave problem, but my internet speed is consistently faster.

I currently don't have any hooked up since I moved my PC to a more central location in the house. When I did use them they solved most of the problems I had with poor wireless connectivity that arose due to the distance between my players and my PC. Like one of the previous posts, I also found issues when operating certain appliances, like a vacuum cleaner or the treadmill. Ultimately, I moved the PC to the aforementioned central location where I was able to hard wire two SBs, and my other two were in much closer proximity such that they maintain 90%+ signal strength.

I'm using MoCA which is the same principle but operates over my cable TV lines. Supports higher transfer rates which is nice as I also run video over the network from the same ReadyNAS that holds all my music. Work flawlessly!